Maiday is a new voice that has been generating quite a bit of attention lately on the London scene, a locale that maybe meteorologically overcast but white hot in terms of musical productivity at the moment. Working with producers ranging from Jimmy Hogarth (Amy Winehouse, Estelle) to Mojam (Emeli Sandé, Sam Smith, Naughty Boy) she's already demonstrated an enviable range both as a writer and vocal storyteller.

"I wish she was a bitch..." Maiday declares in the attention-grabbing opening bars of her standout track "Wish You'd Met Me First" (which hit #1 on Hype Machine), a telling example of a voice which time and again pulls off the musical hat-trick of being arresting and subtly vulnerable in the same moment. Okayplayer is proud to premiere her newest single--titled simply "You"--on this week's edition of First Look Friday. Without further ado, stream it below and keep scrolling to hear more key tracks and get to know the mind of Maiday via this exclusive First Look interview.

OKP: Please introduce yourself to the nice people...What's your government name, where did you grow up? Favorite ice cream? Name of your first pet?

Maiday: Hi. My government name is Rachel Moulden. I grew up in Worcestershire, England (where the sauce is from). I still have a lifetime of ice cream research to do before committing to a favorite but you can't go wrong with chocolate. Never strawberry. My first pet was a cat called Fatty. He was the best. RIP Fatty.

OKP: How did you get into singing and what was the very first thing you ever recorded?

Maiday: Singing kind of got into me. Writing has always been there and words are still my starting point, but making them sound and feel good when they come out of me is something I started doing maybe in my early teens. It's all therapy. Writing's my mental release, singing's my physical one.

I shudder to think what the first thing I recorded was but the first decent thing I remember was a cover of "Be Your Girl" by Teedra Moses. I had the instrumental on 12" and recorded a version in my bedroom on this little Korg recording station thing.

OKP: Tell us about this newest track "You" how did it come about?

Maiday: I wrote "You" with producers Mojam whom I adore. They were one of the first "proper" sessions I had when I moved to London so having them involved in my debut EP feels really good. The song is written from the standpoint of total (but pretty obvious) denial. You go somewhere in the hope of bumping into a certain person, though you won't admit it. The idea of seeing them scares the shit out of you but the idea of not seeing them is just as bad. So you go. And you see the person. But they're there with someone else and you die inside. That old chestnut.

>>>Click Page 2 to Read More + Watch "Fade" Official Video f. Maiday

OKP: You first grabbed some attention as the voice of Jakwob's "Fade" (watch the video above - ed.) which places your voice in counterpoint to a pretty frenetic breakbeat. So far your solo material seems more solidly in balladic territory, though...do you feel more at home in a darkened club or maybe a darkened closet?

Maiday: I love "Fade" because to me it's the perfect balance between vibe and emotion. It's a ballad, really--dark and beatsy as it is. The word ballad makes me feel a bit dirty though. Makes me think of crusty old dudes at pianos and women with bad hair and floaty dresses grasping the air as they hit THAT note. I want to yank heart strings. That has to be at the core of what I do. Not everyday ugly-cry, it's not about that. But there's nothing better than getting under people's skin and effecting them positively, particularly with something that came from a place of pain. Genre is an afterthought for me. A really great song pays no attention to genre and I think hanging less emphasis on it would make the music world a better place. If something feels good and you connect with it, Bam.

I write and sing a little differently depending on the track and what energy it has, but I'd like to think there's a common thread of intimacy in everything I do which keeps it Maidayish.

From the full Maiday project expect a doom metal/funk fusion with reggae influences. No, um, expect to be confronted with your emotions and experiences through hearing about my own. I want to hold a few things up to the light - important, tiny, regular things; universally personal things that are skimmed over too often in mainstream music. Expect sincerity that doesn't take itself too seriously? Yeah, that works.

OKP: Speaking of baring the intimate, your forthcoming EP is titled Anatomy--what made you come up with that name? What can we expect from the EP?

Maiday: Anatomy is the EP title because the songs on it are a close up of my (and a lot of people's I reckon) internal workings. Each song takes a part of my life or character and dissects it; opens it up for people to look at. It'll include 'Wish You'd Met Me First' which I put out at the end of last year, 'You' and a couple more tracks I'm excited for people to hear. It'll be out this summer. I also have a self-produced cover of an old favorite (don't wanna give away what it is yet but the artists name rhymes with 'Schmalanis Florrisette') which I'll be putting out soon.

OKP: Can you tell us how your creative process works in terms of writing/recording individual tracks?

Maiday: My creative process is pretty unreliable and I'm governed a lot by my moods but as a rule, to be at my best I have to have something of real personal importance going on. Something I give enough of a shit about to say out loud. I use songs to express things I don't want to have a conversation about. Writing alone usually draws out my best lyrics; my brain works more freely and honestly when there's no one else in the room. I've made a lot of people uncomfortable with how quiet and still I can be in sessions (I have resting bitch-face too which doesn't help). I'm not a head-nodder, walker-arounder, chin-wagger or idea-bouncer. I have to go into a world of my own in order to come out with something worth recording. I also very much enjoy recording at home naked. It's not as sexy as it sounds but I like it.